


Striptease

by chainus3r



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chainus3r/pseuds/chainus3r
Summary: “This feels like some bullshit teenage summer dream.” Zutara one-shot.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 38





	Striptease

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Striptease by carwash.  
> Set between The Southern Raiders and The Ember Island Players.

The sun was starting to set, the sky had taken a beautiful orange-pink color. Zuko could feel the sunset even without being outside and seeing it, he could feel his body weaken when the sun started to disappear, it was nothing bad but it made him sleepier. He yawned as he exited his old vacation house, sitting down on the brick step that faced the ocean from the high mountain. 

Zuko’s thoughts raced about what had happened, they had only a few days left until Sozin’s comet and he did something he probably shouldn’t have, he kissed her.

Everything about the kiss was electrifying, earth shattering, breath taking. But it really wasn’t the time, he just couldn’t resist her, the way she was looking at him, she finally forgave him, saw a side of him no one has ever before.

But she panicked, she ran. At first when they both pulled away for air her eyes sparkled, she looked euphoric, but then it’s like she realized something and she ran, flooding the scene. He was stupid enough to kiss her in a bathroom... so romantic of him, of course she ran.

The door behind him creaked open, he could feel footsteps behind him then a familiar figure sit next to him. It was her, Katara, she showed up. 

“Hey,” she hesitantly said, her eyes watching the sun just like his.

“Hey,” he replied the exact same way, still with his gaze away from her.

“Are you oka-“ they said at the exact same time, their heads turning to face each other, their noses closer than they expected. 

“Sorry,” Zuko muttered and moved his head away a bit.

Katara looked down. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just you know, thinking...”

Her head tilted. “About?”

“Everything,” Zuko breathed. “Everything. Are you okay?”

“I’m the same, just thinking, about everything,” Katara muttered, finally lifting her eyes up to the sun. 

“Look... I’m sorry about earlier, I shouldn’t have kissed you, this is not the time for romance, we could die tomorrow for Agni’s sake,” Zuko chuckled nervously, his hands fidgeting with his shirt. 

Katara didn’t speak, only shook her head until she found the words to speak. “I’m not sorry...”

“You’re not?” He quickly asked, a bit surprised, his eyes finally on hers. 

She shook her head once again. “It made me feel so free, I wasn’t the avatar’s girl, I wasn’t the perfect girlfriend, I wasn’t a mother figure... I was just... Katara.”

“I like Katara,” he whispered as his hand met hers on the step they sat on. 

“You do?” Katara asked quietly, receiving a nod. “I think I do too, she feels so free...”

“She’s one of the strongest people I know,” Zuko told her seriously. “She inspires me to be better.”

“Does she?” She trailed, an almost smile creeping on her face. 

He nodded once again. “She’s pretty cool if you ask me. She forgave me after I hurt her... I owe her everything.”

“I think I...” Katara’s voice trembled. “I think I like Zuko too. I just wish this wasn’t all so complicated...”

“I know, me too,” Zuko told her with a sad look. “I would do anything for this to be simple, anything.”

“I wish we could just pretend like everything was normal for a while, I wish we could just be normal teenagers for once.”

“We could pretend... I don’t want to spend my possible last few days of life regretting what I didn’t do,” Zuko whispered.

Katara’s eyes shined almost in hope. “So we could pretend just for a few days that we’re just two teenagers who possibly like each other? Just until we have to face the world? Could you do that?”

“I think I could,” he said in honesty, he would do anything to be around her. “Could you?”

“I think I could too,” she whispered, her face nearing his.

Their lips neared each other, Zuko’s head tilting to capture her lips, his free hand immediately intertwining in her brown hair. Katara gasped at the overwhelming sensation, she could get used to this... but for now, this meant nothing, not until after the comet, not until then could she finally see clearly what she wants, what Katara wants.

Their lips gently danced together until Zuko invited his tongue in to capture hers, both shaking at the feeling, it was electrifying just like their first kiss two hours ago, this one felt even more powerful if possible...

They pulled away to gasp for air, the sun already lower and the sky now pink, everything was perfect. 

Zuko kept running his hand through her long hair, loving the feeling of it until a slight wind picked up and made him drop his hand to her free one to capture it.

Katara was quicker and captured his first with a smirk like she had won a game. Her hair looked beautiful blowing in the wind, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“We could just runaway,” Zuko joked yet a part of him was dead serious. Even if his destiny was on the throne he would love to just be normal, not have to be involved in all of this mess. “Just runaway and not tell anybody...”

“Oh and where would we go?” Katara laughed.

“The earth kingdom,” he smiled. “I would be Lee and you could be Ming, we could find a small house stranded out in the woods so no one would find us. Just two earth kingdom citizens, nothing else.”

A part of Katara couldn’t imagine leaving everyone behind, leaving Sokka, her dad, Gran Gran, Aang and Toph, they were all her family... but leaving sounded so easy, an out of this mess, a chance to finally stop having to be an adult and get to be a teenagers for once, a child even. “That sounds really nice,” she whispered in a heavy voice, it sounded so nice. “Maybe in another lifetime...”

“Deal,” Zuko chuckled, not taking his eyes off of hers. “Do you want to go down the beach? Maybe take a swim?”

“You read my mind,” Katara told him, standing up and pulling his hand down with her.

Zuko laughed as he almost fell over but Katara was eager to get to the water, she could feel it calling her from afar. So she dragged him down the long steps until their bare feet reached the warm sand. Her hair was blowing in the wind as she looked back at him with a smile on her face.

Katara ran into the water, not caring about her clothes getting wet, it was hot enough for them to air dry quickly, Zuko being dragged right behind her, his feet meeting the cool water.

Zuko frowned as his shirt touched the water and let go of Katara’s hand. His hands grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, he threw the red piece of cotton onto the sand that wasn’t far behind them. 

She watched him in awe, trying her hardest not to admire his chest but he was different, he wasn’t Aang or Sokka, he was Zuko and she couldn’t help but feel herself wanting to explore his body. “Good idea,” she simply said, her cheeks starting to burn red.

Katara gently untied her robes, the dress already mostly drenched and adjusted her top underwrappings. She kept her pants on since they were already too far gone to save but she threw her dress onto the sand just like Zuko did. 

She turned her back to him and dove under the water, letting it surround her. She could feel his eyes on her, watching her every move, he was just as hypnotized by her as she was by him, it was mutual which was something she never felt with anyone.

Katara snuck up behind Zuko from under the water and sent out a large wave towards him, leaving him completely drenched.

“Hey!” Zuko yelped in a shiver, looking for her. “No fair, you’re a water bender!”

“And you’re the one who chose to kiss the water bender,” Katara giggled as she blushed and sent another wave, he still couldn’t find her. “We’re pretending here to be normal teenagers, pretend with me Zuko!”

Zuko breathed out softly as she rose from under the water, a few small hair strands blowing in the warm wind, the rest of her hair heavy and drenched covering her face. She looked beautiful. “Alright,” he simply replied to her request and sent out a decent sized wave at her, not as strong as hers but the best he, a fire bender, could do.

“Hey!” Katara giggled causing Zuko’s stomach to flutter. “You got a big storm coming!”

And with that statement she sent out a massive wave to Zuko, but he was quicker, he lunged under the water and swam as fast as he could away until he was behind her.

But she was too quick, she felt every single move in the water. Katara shot a wave at him with her fingertips.

Zuko coughed slightly as water entered his mouth but then quickly laughed at what had happened. “I guess you can’t sneak up on a master water bender, can you?”

“No, you can’t, I’ll always win,” she smirked but swam towards him in the deep water, her feet no longer touching the sandy ground. 

The sun was right behind Zuko when he smiled at her, it was half down, the sky dark orange. His hair was covering his forehead, long wet strands in the way of his golden eyes, Katara almost giggled at the way he looked, she couldn’t believe this was once the scary boy with a ponytail. 

Instinctively, Zuko dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her over to him, their chests touching as Katara fluttered her feet to stay afloat. Zuko on the other hand was tall enough to stand on his tiptoes without his chin meeting the water.

Katara gasped at the sudden contact but appreciated the gesture, he was holding her so she wouldn’t have to keep herself afloat, her body tingled as his fingers drawings circles on her hips. She let her hands travel to his back to contact his hot skin.

He smiled down at her, everything was so perfect, this was everything he could ever dream of. They were in their own world, a world without any problems, he wasn’t Fire Lord and she wasn’t the Chief’s daughter, they were just Zuko and Katara.

She tilted her head up so their noses touched and let her her lips meet his. This time the kiss was soft, like she wanted to savor this moment for the rest of her life. He tasted like the ocean, a taste she was so familiar with and unlike his earlier smoky taste. 

Zuko kissed her back just as gently and let his hands caress her ribs, his fingers gently grazing the wet material of her under wrappings. 

Her skin was burning hot just like his when she held onto his back. Katara could feel one of his hands leave her ribs and reach her neck, then her jawline to trace it, with that the kiss became more passionate.

He burned like fire under her touch, even if it was just his back, it drove him insane. And her lips made him dizzy, euphoric. He pulled her even closer than he thought was possible to press his lips harder to hers, she gasped at the action.

As Katara was panting she let Zuko drop the hand that held her jaw to the side of her covered breast, he traced circles there too just like on any other part of her body he had access to. She nodded slightly, her nose gently hitting his as they both gasped for air, Zuko took it as a signal to keep going, the water around them was crashing against their backs.

As their lips met again, his hand went to work, his fingers massaging her hardened nipple, her under wrapping were quite thin which he appreciated. 

Katara moaned into Zuko’s mouth, the sound driving him wild. He kept his hand at work until a large wave drenched them both taking them by surprise causing them to pull away.

“Oh god,” Katara muttered, her face completely flushed. “Did I... did I do that?”

“Make that wave you mean? I think so,” Zuko replied, placing his hand back on her waist. “Pretty impressive.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she laughed a bit shyly. “I guess I shouldn’t be near water when...”

“We’re both already drenched, it doesn’t matter,” Zuko smiled and then smirked. 

Katara raised her eyebrow. “What are you smirking about?”

“Are we finally the bullshit teenagers you wanted us to be?” He said jokingly, blushing a bit, but internally this was everything he wanted, pretend or not he had never felt so alive, never so happy. 

This was it, this was the moment she fell for him. “Yeah, we are,” Katara said softly, her eyes sparkling as they met his.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this wasn’t too bad, I’m not really one to write in general tbh so this was made just for fun. Feel free to let me know what you think.


End file.
